I marvel that he is so relaxed and discussing this so casually when not a couple of hours ago, he was so angry with me about this. Shifting uncomfortably, I remember the collar and pull away from him.

"Take it off," he says to me without turning around.

Pissed that he once again knows my issue without me saying anything, I say, "No." He turns to me, surprised.

"Take what off?" Lincoln asks.

"Take it off," he demands, and I shake my head.

"Aefre," he warns me.

I smile serenely at him, now having the power back, knowing it upsets him that I have it on knowing how it makes me feel. Complex Vampire mind games. I have missed this with him.

"V.A.? What are you talking about?" Lincoln asks suspiciously now.

"Why do you keep calling her V.A.?" CK now asks, suspicious himself, and also, nicely dodging the question.

"ValamAtrux," he says as if it's obvious.

"And that would be?" CK asks, annoyed to be out of the loop.

"He doesn't know," I say to Lincoln.

"Oh," Lincoln says and looks away.

"Aefre. What secrets are you keeping now?"

"It's not a secret. You just weren't, you know…" I shrug.

"Wasn't what?"

"In the mood for us to fill you in," I say pleasantly.

He hisses at me. "Fill me in about what?"

"She Shifted at Christmas. Went to go and see her mother," Lincoln says, getting fed up with this to-ing and fro-ing. "Turns out she is a spectacular creature just like her mother and goes by the name of ValamAtrux."

"You Shifted? To your Dragon form? Aefre, why didn't you tell me?"

"You weren't exactly talking to me," I say dryly, and he huffs at me.

"You still should have told me. ValamAtrux? I like it. Suits you," he says. "Tell me about it."

"I will. But can you give me my phone back? I want to call Devon again."

"He'll be in the air now; his phone will be switched off. Just leave him for tonight," Lincoln says quietly.

"I will call the jet phone. I assume he took the G6 and didn't hang around waiting for a flight to LAX."

"Liv. Don't. He needs time."

"Tough shit. I can accept, just about, that he needed to go and get some space but he fucking could have told me in person and said goodbye. Now give it to me."

CK hands it to me and I go to my bedroom to call the jet.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

He answers on the first ring. "Yes?" he snaps.

Tags: Eve Newton Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net